Choices of Darkness
by Kiara Kenobi
Summary: How much forgiveness can one person have in their heart? Especially,when the person who's guilty just happens to be Irina Derevko. Spyfam!


Author's Note: This is a brand new one I've written. Hope everyone likes it.

Rating: PG-13

Pairings: Mostly Spyfam, but I may add a little S/V in later on.

Sydney Bristow sighed as she entered through the front door at work. She slowly walked toward the elevator and she pushed the button to go up to her office floor. She sighed as she tried to stop her head from spinning. As soon as the elevator beeped and the door opened, Sydney stepped out of it and she walked to her desk.

"Syd, you okay? You look terrible." Her coworker and friend, Eric Weiss said to her, as soon as he saw her. He looked worried. He stood next to her desk.

"I'm fine, Eric." She snapped at him and she went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face.

He shrugged and went to his own desk to do some paperwork.

Later at the morning briefing, Sydney came in just as her friend and boss, Marcus Dixon began the briefing.

He asked if anyone had anything else to add, but no one did. Just as he was about to dismiss them, Sydney spoke up. "Has there been any word on locating Sark? I mean, the last we heard, he went back to working with my mother."

"Yes." Jack Bristow answered. "According to our latest Intel, Irina has been seen several times with Sark, but we've had no luck apprehending either of them." He sighed. "We'll keep looking for her."

Sydney nodded, but didn't answer. She groaned softly.

Michael Vaughn looked over at her. "Are you all right, Syd?"

"Not really, Vaughn." She answered, as she stood up. She glanced over at Dixon. "Would it be all right if I went home? I'm really not feeling well."

"Of course you can, Syd." Dixon said and he glanced at Jack. "Could you take her home? I need Weiss and Vaughn here." He stood up and began getting his papers in order, so he could leave the room.

Jack nodded as he stood up. He walked over to Sydney and he led her out of the room and down the elevator. As soon as they got to his car, she passed out. He got her into the car and he drove her to his own house. Then, he called Dixon to inform him that he wouldn't be coming back to work that day. He would be taking a few days off to care for his sick daughter.  
Meanwhile back at the Rotunda, Weiss was standing around waiting for his contact to call. He was chatting with his coworker and friend, Kimberly McKendrick, when his cell phone rang. "Hello?" He said, when he answered the call.

"Agent Weiss, it's good to hear your voice." A familiar female voice said happily. "I hope you haven't forgotten me already."

Weiss glanced at Kimberly and he motioned to her to have this call traced. To the woman, he said, "I remember you, Ms. Derevko."

"Oh come on now, Agent. You can feel free to call me Irina. I mean, you are one of my daughter's best friends." She laughed, as she hung up the phone.

"Damn it." Weiss said as he hung up. "Did you get anything?"

Kimberly shook her head and sighed. "I'm sorry, Eric."

"It's okay. We'll get her." He said reassuringly. Then he walked to Dixon's office door to report the call. He knocked on the door, but he didn't get an answer. He walked back to his desk, just as the phone rang again. He sighed as he answered it. "Weiss?"

It was Vaughn. "It's me, Weiss. We just picked up Irina. We're on our way back now." He sounded worried.

"All right, Vaughn. I'll call Jack and let him know." Weiss said to him. He hung up and called Jack at his house.

Sydney was asleep in her bedroom at Jack's house, when the phone rang.

Jack walked downstairs after he had just checked on Sydney. He walked over to the phone and he answered the call. "Hello?"

"Jack, its Weiss. Vaughn just took Irina into custody."

Jack sighed. "All right, Weiss. I'm on my way." He hung up the phone and he looked up the stairs at Sydney's closed bedroom door. He stayed there for just a few seconds before grabbing his jacket. He walked over to his desk long enough to scribble a note for Sydney to let her know where he was going. Then, he walked out the door and he left.

A few hours later, Jack was standing right outside Irina's locked cell. He glared at her. "What did you think you were trying to pull coming back here? You knew they would be coming after you."

Irina didn't answer him. As a matter of fact, she didn't even look at him. She was sitting on the floor inside her locked cell meditating and ignoring Jack.

Annoyed by the way she was acting, he left without saying another word. He headed back to his house a few minutes later.

It wasn't very long before Vaughn and Weiss heard what had happened, when Jack tried to talk to Irina.

Meanwhile at Jack's house, Sydney woke up just as Jack got home. He walked up the stairs and into her room to check on her. "How are you feeling, Sweetheart? You look a little better."

She managed a small smile. "A little better. What's going on at work?"

"Don't you worry about work. You just get some rest and get yourself well." He noticed she was trying to sit up in bed, so he rearranged the pillows behind her.

"Thanks, Dad." She said. She noticed the strange look on Jack's face, so she asked, "What's wrong?"

He sighed. "Your mother's been arrested and she's being held at the JTF building downtown."

Sydney looked surprised. "Well, we knew it would just be a matter of time before she was caught. Who made the arrest?"

"Vaughn did." He answered. He noticed the pained look on her face and he sat down on the edge of her bed. 

She sighed.

"What's going to happen to Mom now?" Sydney asked, worriedly. She looked down at her blanket, not wanting him to see how upset she was getting.

Jack sighed, as he put his arm around his daughter. "I don't really know, Sweetheart."

She let her head fall onto his shoulder for a few minutes. "I wish I could go see her."

"What you need to do is get well. Let me worry about your mother." He smiled and added, "Okay?"

"Okay, Dad." Sydney said and she hugged him. She laid down and started to fall back to sleep.

Jack went downstairs to make her something to eat. As he was cooking, the phone rang. He groaned and he walked over to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Jack." It was Vaughn. "How's Sydney doing?"

"She's resting right now, Vaughn. Is there something going on you need to inform me about?" Jack asked. There was some anger in his voice.

"Actually, yes. Irina escaped. Weiss just called me. I'm not at the Rotunda right now. I was wondering if I could stop by later and see Syd." Vaughn said.

Jack sighed and agreed. "It'll have to be after dinner though. Sydney will probably sleep most of the day and I don't want her disturbed. She needs her rest."

"I understand. Thanks, Jack." Vaughn said and he hung up.

Jack groaned and hung up too. He went back to the kitchen and finished cooking.

Meanwhile at the Rotunda, an all out hunt was going on for Irina. Marshall was ordered to stay in his office, so he would stay safe.

A few hours had passed and Irina had still not been caught. It was getting frustrating for everyone. They were so busy searching that no one noticed Irina carefully hiding explosives carefully around the Rotunda, as she was leaving. She walked out the door just before the explosives went off. Everyone scrambled for cover, as more explosives went office.

All anyone could hear was Dixon calling out orders, but no one was listening right then. He was very angry too. This was mostly because no one had fought Irina before she got away.

Weiss and Vaughn had their hands full tending to those that had been injured. They were glad to see that no one had been killed.

Dixon ordered Marshall to call Jack and have him come in to help.

Jack had just taken Sydney some lunch, when he heard the phone ring. He answered it. "Hello?" He said.

"Agent Bristow? It's me, Marshall. Director Dixon needs you to come in."

Jack sighed and asked, "What' happened?"

Marshall hesitated before saying, "its Derevko. She's escaped." He paused before telling him what Irina had done.

"Tell Dixon I'll be there in half an hour." Jack said. Then he hung up. He had no intention of telling Sydney what had happened. Their was nothing she could do right now anyway. After leaving a note for Sydney, he left.

Marshall went to let Dixon know that Jack was on his way.

Meanwhile, Irina managed to hide inside a cheap hotel room. She felt bad about how sick Sydney was, but she felt it was necessary to keep her out of the way. She hoped that no one would figure out that it was her who had poisoned her. She would reveal what she had done to her daughter in due time. She stayed in the hotel room for the rest of the night.

Jack got to the Rotunda awhile later. He quickly found Dixon, who looked worried. All he said to Jack was, "We need to find Derevko fast." Then, he walked away from him.

Jack spotted Vaughn and Weiss and he walked over to them.

Vaughn looked at him and asked, "How's Sydney?" He looked worried.

Jack sighed worriedly. "Still the same. If she doesn't improve soon, I'm taking her to the hospital. She's barely eating anything."

Vaughn was starting to get worried now. "I won't be able to stop by later after all. Weiss and I are part of the task force that is searching for Derevko."

Meanwhile, Sydney began having trouble breathing. She struggled on the bed and was barely able to get to the phone. It was a good thing she had 911 on her phone memory, because she was forced to use it. She was barely able to force out "Help, " before she finally passed out.

The ambulance driver just happened to be an analyst for the CIA, so as soon as they got Sydney loaded into the ambulance, he called and informed Dixon and Jack. He stated Sydney's condition as serious.

Both Jack and Dixon headed to the hospital. They were now even more worried than before. They sat in the waiting room for a long wait.

The doctors were busy trying to get Sydney stabilized. The ambulance got there just a few minutes before. Awhile later, the doctor came over to Jack. He looked concerned.

By the time the doctor walked away, Jack's usual expressionless face was now masked with both worry and anger. He noticed that Dixon was looking at him and he said, "They just got the blood work results back from the lab. Sydney's been poisoned." He went on to tell him that he believes that it was Irina who poisoned Sydney. He also said that he was going to prove it too. Then, he left the hospital. He was going to find Irina himself.

After several hours, Jack managed to track Irina down. He found her inside an abandoned warehouse. She was asleep in a corner. He roughly picked her up by the collar of her shirt and he yelled, "What did you do to my daughter? Huh?" He was having trouble containing his anger at this point. He glared at her.

She quickly opened her eyes and looked at him. "I poisoned her, Jack." She didn't seem the slightest bit threatened or frightened. "She should be fine in about 24 hours, as long as you have the right antidote."

"What kind of poison is it, Irina?" Jack asked her. He was trying to calm down, hoping it would help get Irina to talk more if he did.

"It's a weak form of cyanide." Irina said to him. She was starting to get worried. "How is she?"

"Barely alive thanks to you." Jack snapped at her. "Now where can I find the antidote for this kind of poison?" He continued to glare at her angrily.

Irina sighed. "The only place it can be found is in a hospital in Rome. You'll have to take her there as soon as possible."

"Correction-we will have to take her there." Jack shot back at her. "We'll be leaving for there at nine." He shot her another glare as he added, "This damn well better not be some kind of trick either, Irina. You're already in CIA custody. If Sydney dies, then so do you." Jack took Irina out of the warehouse and he drove her back to the JTF.

Dixon met them at the entrance and Jack explained what had happened. He also requested that Irina accompany him on the mission to get the antidote.

Dixon agreed and he made the arrangements for the mission. He was still very worried about Sydney.

Later that night, Jack temporarily removed Sydney from the hospital. He drove them both to the airport, where they would meet the plane and a few escort agents. They had Irina with them.

After everyone was aboard, the plane took off. It would be taking several hours before they would be in Rome.

Jack had Sydney sitting in the chair next to him. Her chair was reclined back so she could sleep, but she wasn't. He glanced worriedly at her. "You really should get some rest."

"I'll be fine, Dad." Sydney said. She kept glaring at her mother, who was handcuffed to a seat a few rows away from them. And to Irina, she asked, "Why did you do this to me, Mom?"

Irina sighed. "I had to keep you out of the way. While you were on your last mission to Spain, I happened to be there too. At one point, you stood in front of a dark-haired man. While you were talking to him, I slipped the poison into your drink." She explained.

Sydney looked shocked. "That was you I bumped into as I was leaving, wasn't it?" Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

Irina nodded looking uncomfortable.

Jack slipped his arm around his daughter and he held her as she cried softly.

They were quiet the rest of the flight.  
The entire plane ride lasted several hours and by the time it landed, Sydney was sound asleep. Her breathing was a little bit uneven, so Jack knew they had better get moving quickly.

The three of them exited the plane and went over to the waiting rental car. Jack made sure Sydney was settled comfortably in the back seat and he pushed Irina in the front passenger seat. He climbed in next to her and he started the car. He shot Irina a nasty look, as he sped away.

She had a pained look on her face and had to quickly look away from him. It bothered her that he was so angry with her. She glanced over at Sydney to check on her, but Sydney didn't even glance in her direction.

As soon as they reached Irina's hideout, Irina ran inside and got the antidote. When she came out, she shot Jack a worried look. She opened the back door and was about to inject the antidote into Sydney, when Jack stopped her.

He took the antidote from her and he injected it into Sydney himself. He didn't trust Irina to do it. Glancing in Irina's direction, he asked, "how long does it take for the antidote to work?"

"She should begin feeling better within the hour." Irina answered.

"Good." He said and they got back into the car. Jack drove back to the airport and they rebounded the plane. They settled once again in their seats and the plane took off. They were once again headed back to Los Angeles.

Time: 8:45 am  
Place: Enroute to Los Angeles

Irina had fallen asleep in her seat, which was across the aisle from Jack and Sydney. She wasn't sound asleep though. She kept opening her eyes every once in awhile to look over at Sydney to see how she was doing.

Sydney was asleep next to Jack. She moaned in her sleep and acted as if she were in pain.

He shot her a worried look and sighed.

The plane landed a few hours later and Sydney was rushed back to the hospital. Soon after the plane landed, Sydney's fever spiked. This worried Jack even more as he drove her to the hospital.

The pilot was actually an off-duty CIA Agent, so he called Weiss and had Irina taken back into custody.

Weiss didn't waste any time in getting to the airport to pick her up. He was still pretty angry, now that Irina's secret was out.

Vaughn met them at the hospital. He was happier, when he found out that they managed to reduce Sydney's fever. The antidote was finally beginning to work.

Sydney was kept in the hospital for several more days, but she refused to go visit her mother in her cell. She has spent every day with Vaughn and Jack has come to visit her each and every day too.


End file.
